


Nothing less than she deserved.

by Dats_der_bunny



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: (i guess), Best Friends, Book: Night Watch (Discworld), Canon Compliant, Childhood Friends, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26001076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dats_der_bunny/pseuds/Dats_der_bunny
Summary: Exploring the relationship between Havelock and Sybil at either end of Night Watch. Spoiler alert: it's adorable.
Relationships: Sybil Ramkin & Havelock Vetinari, Sybil Ramkin & Havelock Vetinari & Samuel Vimes, Sybil Ramkin/Samuel Vimes
Comments: 14
Kudos: 67





	Nothing less than she deserved.

There was a knock on the window. Sybil grinned and dislodged the disgruntled swamp dragon that had been napping on her feet. She jumped up and smoothed down her dress and hair. The knock came again.

‘Alright, I’m coming!’ she said, in the same tone she would use with impatient little dragons at feeding time. She crossed the room and opened the big, heavy sash window. There wasn’t much of a breeze and the late evening air wasn’t any cooler than the room itself. She looked down and saw… nothing.

Then, the nothing moved.

A shadow swung itself up and in through the window. ‘I got your message, are you all right?’ said the tall, skinny, greenish figure, taking both of her hands. ‘Did he hurt you?’

‘Oh, Havelock, don’t be silly. I’m perfectly fine! I was just a bit shaken up, that’s all.’

Vetinari relaxed and gave her a little smile. ‘Of course, I know you can look after yourself.’ He let go of her hands and perched on the edge of the bed.

Sybil sat back down in her chair and reached down to pick up the swamp dragon and put it in her lap. It padded in a little circle and settled down in the layers of fabric.

‘What happened?’ said Vetinari once the dragon seemed to have made itself comfortable.

‘You know, I’m still not too sure, it was all so sudden. I was in the drawing room and I heard a lot of shouting in the hall. Then someone called my name, so I stepped out of the room and saw Forsythe on the ground. The man was just standing there, he looked more frightened than I was. I took a sword down from the wall and he ran away.’

‘He called your name?’ A frown flickered across his face briefly. ‘What did he look like?’

‘He had an eyepatch and he wore very scruffy clothes. He wasn’t very tall and his hair was going grey. He was… Well, I wouldn’t say he was handsome, as such, but he was rather… Well, he… He had a certain…’ She could feel a blush creeping up her face. When she caught his expression, she drew herself up, taking care not to disturb the dragon, and put her hands on her hips. ‘Havelock Vetinari, put that eyebrow down. It’s not clever, you know.’

He laughed and she threw a cushion at him. Infuriatingly, he caught it in one hand without looking, but the offending eyebrow was lowered. ‘I was merely wondering what your father would say if he knew you were saying such things,’ he said, with an expression of cherubic innocence.

Sybil laughed. ‘I think you should be more concerned about what he’d say if he found you in my bedroom,’ she said, with a wink.

‘Oh, that’s obvious. He wouldn’t say anything at all. He’d simply give me the opportunity to practise nursing broken ribs and concealing a black eye.’

Sybil laughed again. ‘You’re probably right. Anyway, how are you? I heard that your aunt is in town. How are you finding that?’

Vetinari shrugged. ‘A little strange, I suppose. There’s school, and there’s home. There isn’t normally any overlap.’

Sybil nodded. ‘Is it a social visit? I heard she’s bought that house on Easy Street.’

Vetinari shook his head. ‘She’s here on business.’ He hoped that the rumour about his aunt’s house was the only one she’d heard. He wasn’t afraid of Sybil being judgemental about her profession; there was more sense in being afraid of kittens[1]. He just didn’t want to have to explain the details to her. He wasn’t _entirely_ clear on some of the details himself.

Mercifully, she just nodded.

Vetinari sighed and glanced out of the open window. ‘I’m afraid I must be going soon, I’m not worried about the curfew, but I seem to have been irritating Downey more than usual and I wouldn’t put it past him to snitch to the porters.’

‘I know, it’s alright. I’m just glad to have seen you at all. I don’t like seeing you looking so skinny though, Havelock. Have you been eating enough?’

Vetinari sighed again. ‘Sybil, I have optimised my food intake and have calculated a perfectly balanced diet. You really needn’t worry.’

Sybil gave him a Look, but he countered it with a blank expression. Eventually she gave in. ‘All right. Will I see you again soon?’

Vetinari shook his head. ‘Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to get away for a while, not with everything that’s going on at the moment.’ He hoped that the sentence was vague enough not to raise any further questions about his role in “everything that’s going on at the moment”. He knew that Sybil was a bright girl and didn’t want her involved in any way. A little knowledge could get bright people into a lot of trouble.

She nodded, then scooped up the dragon and put it down in the chair. She pulled the reluctant Havelock into an enormous hug, which he gingerly returned. ‘Take care of yourself,’ she said.

‘You too. I’ll see you as soon as I can.’ He pulled away and turned towards the window. With one foot already on the windowsill, he turned back and said, ‘Oh, and, Sybil?’

‘Yes?’

‘Pulling a sword off the wall to face an intruder? I’m so proud of you.’

Before she could respond, he swung himself back out into the darkness and could barely be seen as he leapt between the rooftops.

She watched him for as long as she could, then smiled to herself and closed the window.

—

Vetinari gently took the baby from Sybil and patiently allowed her to rearrange his arms and the blankets to her satisfaction. He looked down at the little face.

‘He really is quite lovely, my dear,’ he said, a little shocked to find that he was being completely honest. ‘Have you decided on a name yet?

‘Yes, we’re calling him Sam.’

Vetinari raised an eyebrow. ‘I can’t believe the Commander accepted that without a fuss, how did you manage to persuade him?’

‘Well, he was unconscious about 30 seconds after I told him.’

Vetinari smiled. ‘Really? Sybil, I never knew you had it in you. If only I’d known it were that easy all along.’ He looked down at Young Sam. ‘Perhaps I’ll try it the next time I give him an order, what do you think, Sam?’ he said, looking into the baby’s eyes. Young Sam chose this moment to make a contented little gurgling sound. Vetinari looked up at Sybil again and beamed.

Sybil narrowed her eyes at him. ‘If you weren’t holding the baby, I’d have thrown a cushion at you just then.’

Vetinari’s smile widened even more.

She rolled her eyes. ‘Anyway, how are you doing?' she asked.

‘Hmm? Oh, I’m in perfect health, thank you.’ He was almost imperceptibly rocking the baby.

‘Have you been eating enough?’

The smile slid off his face. ‘Sybil, I—'

‘Right, in that case, I want to see you eat something before you go,’ she said, as she stood up and took Young Sam out of his arms.

‘Oh, no, I really must be going, thank you for the kind invitation—’

‘Nonsense, Drumknott told me that he cleared your schedule for the afternoon.’

She rang the bell and asked Wilikins to serve the tea and cake.

Vetinari cursed Drumknott in the privacy of his mind as he reluctantly ate the cake, but he was secretly quite content just to watch Sybil fussing over Young Sam. It was nothing less than she deserved.

‘Sybil?’

‘Yes?’

‘I’m so proud of you.’

Before she could respond, they heard the front door open and suddenly there was a lot of shouting in the hallway. Vimes appeared in the doorway. He and Vetinari exchanged nods, and a look that said: I’m not happy about this either, but I’ll tolerate it for Sybil’s sake.

‘Sir. Almost didn’t recognise you with food in your mouth, sir.’

‘Sam!’

‘Sorry, dear.’

On the outside, Vetinari’s eyebrow was raised, his face giving nothing away. On the inside, in that moment, it was the happiest he’d felt for as long as he could remember.

[1] If only he knew.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! Feedback is always very welcome. If you have any requests, let me know on here or on my new Tumblr @datsderbunnyblog.


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